Please contribute generously for Science and Scientist – 2014

Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada said, “There does not arise any question of discriminating my guru from yours or anyone else’s“ and, “There is only one guru, who appears in an infinity of forms to teach you, me and all others.” The same supreme absolute comes in an infinity of forms to help the conditioned souls. Guru is not a material concept and everyone must cooperatively try to serve and glorify Sri Guru. That is the Vaikhunta Vritti.

Sripad Maharaja and Sripad Puri Maharaja with Srila Prabhupada

On the auspicious occasion of the 77th appearance day celebration of our beloved Gurudev Srila Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, Ph.D. (Sripad Maharaja, the founding director of Bhaktivedanta Institute), under the guidance of Sripad Bhakti Madhava Puri Maharaja, Ph.D. (Sripad Puri Maharaja, the Serving Director of Bhakti Vedanta Institute), an international conference entitled Science and Scientist – 2014 (Conference Page: www.scsiscs.org/conference) is being organized at the Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India during 28th – 29th November, 2014. As sannyasis we are mendicants, fully dependent upon the mercy of the Lord, through His devotees and the public for our support and funding for our scientific preaching services. Sannyasis beg door to door and thus they engage everyone in the service of Sri Guru. For the satisfaction of Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga, please contribute generously for the upcoming conference we are organizing in Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur. We have to arrange for two days of prasadam for conference delegates, the traveling of the speakers, stay, as well as printing of preaching materials and other expenses. To send your donations please visit: www.scienceandscientist.org/donate

Srila Sridhar Maharaja and Srila Prabhupada

Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada preached extensively all over the world and made many devotees. But he was a mercifully concerned that the scientifically minded people may think the teachings of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu were mere sentiment and not take them seriously. Therefore Srila Prabhupada gave a detailed vision for presenting the scientific basis of Krishna consciousness among his scientist devotees headed by Sripad Maharaja. Srila Prabhupada had explained, “You may be knowing that we have formed one party of scientists under the leadership of Sriman Svarupa Damodara Prabhu. Also we have formed the Bhaktivedanta Institute for organizing scientific presentations of Krishna Consciousness. This party is our most important preaching arm with which we will be able to destroy the bogus speculation and cheating which goes under the banner of scientific advancement.” Further Srila Prabhupada also mentioned in a letter that, “When the scientist, philosopher, medical man will get the opportunity to study systematically what is God, what are His energies, what is my relationship, how to approach Him, then only there will be paradise.” Sripad Puri Maharaja is a direct disciple of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaja. Sripad Puri Maharaja received instructions on the scientific preaching mission from his honored Gurus. Sripad Maharaja instructed his disciples to follow Sripad Puri Maharaja after his disappearance from this world for continuing and making further progress.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura

Significantly Sripad Puri Maharaja received invaluable instructions from Srila Sridhar Maharaja on scientific presentation of Krishna Consciousness. Srila Sridhar Maharaja many times said to Sripad Puri Maharaja, “I am just like you. My nature is just like yours,” thus accepting his philosophical and devotional mood of service. Srila Prabhupada considered Srila Sridhar Maharaja as his Sikhsha guru and instructed his devotee disciples to take the guidance of Srila Sridhar Maharaja very seriously. Srila Sridhar Maharaja instructed Sripad Maharaja and Sripad Puri Maharaja to build a temple over the tomb of Darwin. Srila Sridhar Maharaja said that it was very easy to construct a temple with bricks and cement but that was not the mission that was given to them by Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada in reality wanted the dismantling of all the misconceptions produced by Darwin’s evolution theory by scientific presentation of Krishna consciousness. Srila Sridhar Maharaja gave his blessings to the scientific preaching mission when Srila Sripad Maharaja and Sripad Puri maharaja went to him for advice. He agreed to be an adviser to the scientific preaching mission. His valuable advice is recorded in the ‘Subjective Evolution of Consciousness.’ Srila Sridhar Maharaja was himself a great preacher among the leaders, the king among many lions. By his preaching many Barristers, Scholars and Scientists all over India in the early part of his life and later from all over the world, came under the flag of Sriman Mahaprabhu. Srila Saraswati Thakura explained, “The real, eternal and transcendental Divine Forms reveal themselves to the pure souls according to the nature of their serving mood in the evolutionary growth there. The only cause of these Divine Descents is the intense Mercy of God towards jivas. In Europe the theories of physical evolution of Darwin and Lamarck have been considered. But it is in the Vaishnava Philosophy alone that we see the fully scientific and real conception of each eternal and transcendental Divine Form for worship by the freed souls according to their evolutionary growth of serving mood.” This means that although Darwin and Lamarck may have speculated how the different organismal forms could have originated from matter, and generations of scientists in Europe and America may have put hard labor on unsuccessful attempts to find proofs for the same, in reality they have only mislead mankind by their unscientific speculations by going against even the available empirical evidence. Vaishnava Vedanta is the real scientific platform for searching out the cause of the organismal forms which is actually traced back to the Supreme Lord Himself, as the original personal cause of everything.

In the last 200 years and more, scientists have been mislead by pursuing two very gross misconceptions at the foundations, viz., that life can be produced by some complex permutation and chemical combination of molecules, acting only under the laws of nature. This is of course based upon the ultimate misconception that inanimate nature (comprised of only insentient matter and energy) is the fundamental reality from which the universe evolves. This has created discord and conflict between scientific opinion and religious understanding. Sriman Mahaprabhu wanted to help the conditioned souls in all such situations by preaching the message of service in Love of God. He has given the teaching of how to practice humility with perfect reasoning and love. In this way He was able to convince even the atheists and mayavadins. His approach was very simple and practical. For example, He explained that Lord Shiva was a servant of Lord Vishnu from the example of the descent of river Ganges. Among the Buddhists, Lord Chaitanya explained logical flaws in all the nine questions raised by a Bauddha Acharya and thereafter established the real theistic points of Vaishnava Vedanta. Similarly the strong grip of the scientists over the intellectual thinking in modern society can also be loosened if only a few such leading scientists will be converted, then Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission can spread all over the planet.

Srila Prabhupada’s gave two mantras for the scientists: (1) Life comes from Life, and (2) Matter comes from Life. When Sripad Puri Maharaja humbly explained them to the Nobel Biologist George Wald, a very influential atheistic evolutionist of his time, he was converted. After this he wrote a series of articles denouncing his own earlier stance and instead talked about how matter comes from Life. When we discussed this matter with Prof. P.M. Bhargava, the Founder Director of CCMB, a staunch atheist and follower of famous non-theistic Nobel biologist Crick, he was aghast that the devotees had taken Wald away from the materialist camp and was now posing many challenges to them. Srila Prabhupada said, “tader sila, tader noda, tai diye bhangi tader danter goda” — the scientific preaching mission means to take the tools of scientific propaganda, and utilize them to break their own atheistic foundation. The real concrete and comprehensive substantial truth is that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is that same Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna in the form of His own greatest Servitor. He is the original life and the individual jivas are His parts and parcels (vibhinna amsa). Srila Prabhupada envisioned that if leaders of the human society, namely the scientists, were convinced about the truth of the Krishna Consciousness philosophy by the teachings of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, it will bring a great revolution in the whole world. He told to Sripad Maharaja that the next phase was his, meaning he saw the scientific preaching of Krishna consciousness as providing the ultimate fulfillment of Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan mission. Sripad Maharaja had himself organized many conferences all over the world and Srila Prabhupada expressed his full satisfaction after he had organized the first conference in Vrindavan in 1977. Scientists are preaching to the whole world about Darwin and Big Bang theory. But if they become convinced and transformed they will discuss and preach the message of Mahaprabhu themselves and the path of the preaching movement will be clear.

Dr. A.K. Mohapatra, the Director of AIIMS, BBSR in the Science and Scientist – 2013

This year’s conference follows last year’s Science and Scientist 2013 which was organized in Bhubaneshwar. It was a successfully organized conference that attracted many leading scientists from India. Dr. A.K. Mohapatra, the Director of AIIMS Bhubaneshwar was the Chief Guest of the 2013 conference. A brief report of the conference can be found at: http://mahaprabhu.net/satsanga/?download=Harmonizer_July_2014.pdf

Our estimate is that the conference would require Rs 3 lakhs (INR) or $ 5000 (USD). Kindly contribute generously for the Science and Scientist 2014. We pray for the blessings of Sripad Maharaja and all the Rupanuga acharyas upon everyone. To send your donations please visit: www.scienceandscientist.org/donate

Divine Message

"My religion is finding fault within myself. My own faults should be more than enough for me to focus on how to deal with them, how to adjust, to eliminate."- Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaja

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